UK first: Parents who lose a child entitled to bereavement leave READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-first-parents-who-lose-a-child-entitled-to-bereavement-leave

About eighteen months ago my brother was admitted to a care home suffering from Parkinsons and dementia after it was deemed that he no longer had capacity. I was made an appointee by the council for the purpose of handling certain financial affairs of his...rent and council tax etc. Last week I was informed that my brother had passed away. Shortly after I received a phone call from a person in the council who explained that his doctor would have to issue a death certificate which I would then have to take to a registrars office to have his death officially recorded. All of the above is fairly straightforward, however I am my brother's only surviving relative, he was divorced over twenty years ago during the months leading up to his being admitted to the care home I took care of his credit card ( this was never in my possession it was always kept by him), each time I visited him I would do his shopping and buy whatever else he needed and pay for his dog's veterinary bills. After all the vets bills had been settled and his card had a zero balance I phoned the credit company and had the card suspended. I have since destroyed the card. My brother also had a ( current ) bank account with a little over £11,000. I had his debit card which I would use whenever he would ask me to take money out for him so that he had money to pay the gardener, the chiropodist or get his hair cut...little things like that. The only other time his card was used was when I took money out when he was in the care home, this was £700 paid into the care home's bank account to cover toiletries which they would buy for him, and also again hair cuts and chiropodist...pocket money. For the first seven months that he was at the home I would take out £100 each month, deposit it into my account and then transfer it into the care home's account, I have all the ATM receipts and bank records as proof. I withdrew no more after that as he was hardly using any cash. The problem that I now have is that my brother's body has been taken to the local hospital on Monday I will pick up the death certificate, go to the registrar's office and register his death. After that I will need to organize his funeral which I cannot afford, also the funeral director that transported my brother from the care home to the hospital will have to be paid. Now, I could pay with my brother's debit card as we both have the same surname and first initial, this would not pose a problem and as it is for my brother would not seem to be morally wrong, but what about the legality of it all. Also what of the balance of his account after the funeral. Some months before my brother went into the car home he asked me if I would take Power of Attorney, I refused, perhaps I was selfish but I felt awkward about it. Anyway that's history. The thing is, my brother's body is at the hospital, the funeral director needs to be paid and funeral arrangements have to be made. My gut instinct is to settle all of the above with his debit card but really I'm just winging it. Can anyone help me please.

Purple Pack bereavement guide for families of service personnel READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/purple-pack-bereavement-guide-for-families-of-service-personnel

Hello, can anyone help us please? A family member of my OH died recently and we're trying to sort out his mobile phone with Vodafone. I can't find a non-premium rate line for customer services and their website is very quiet about a bereavement team. One possible problem is that this relative has a Vodafone account that also includes his wife's phone on the same monthly payment. We're trying to cancel his account and leave her account running, with the same mobile number. Any suggestions gratefully received. HB

I'm helping someone to sort out the affairs of her dead father. He has £2,000 in his current account and has a credit card debt of £3,000 all to Barclay's Bank. Barclay's have send her a letter to sign that clearly states that they will only pay her after they have been paid. Which would mean that there would be nothing to cover the funeral costs. The way I see it is that she as the Administrator of her dead fathers estate should be able to get this money with no strings attached to cover the funeral costs. Barclay's credit card should not have any preferential treatment and should be treated the same as any other creditor. Can anybody advise me about this.?

Hi, i would like to fill you in on what happened 15 years ago. Our 17 month old daughter was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer, we were informed she had a 5% chance of survival . We went to see the manager at Lloyds TSB to inform them of our circumstances and to ask that no phone calls were to be made to us; all correspondence was to be in writing. The bank ignored our request and rang us on numerous occasions and just 5 minutes after finding out our daughter had only a week to live; Sadly she passed on at 21 months old. The bank carried on ringing and demanding payments ( we have the letter from 15 years ago from the bank admitting this ). We feel that all the payments made so far were under distress. There have been 5 different collection agencies contacting us, each one we have had to explain our situation again which distressed us more. We have been asking Lloyds TSB for the past 10 years for the original agreement, Westcott took over the collection in November 2012 and we stated that we did not nor ever owed them the money that they requested and that all payments were under duress. We requested the original documents once again, Westcott replied that their client Lloyds TSB doesn't have any documents or copies Westcott sent us a letter saying that as far as they were concerned the matter was finished and that we must continue paying. On the 20th of November we replied stating they had no right to request money without the original agreements and as far as we were concerned the matter was still in dispute until Lloyds TSB contacted us; Still awaiting a reply. We received a letter from Morecroft collection agency in June 2013 stating that their client had registered a default against my Credit score without any warning. We contacted the ombudsman as Lloyds TSB refused to discuss the whole matter; The Ombudsman then contacted Lloyds and told them they must resolve all issues. Lloyds TSB phoned up i have asked for no more phone calls and to have all correspondence in writing, it is very difficult to discuss the matter to every different person that rings as it is very distressful for me and my partner. They decided to ring up today ignoring all my requests yet again, I asked to speak to a manager; she then insisted that she was the manager. When i asked to speak to somebody higher than herself she wanted to know exactly why; i had to go through all the stress of explaining what happened 15 years ago. I then asked to speak to her superior as i had no confidence with her dealing with my complaint. She refused to let me speak to anybody higher than herself. I contacted the Ombudsman to inform them of Lloyds TSB were refusing me contact with the manager; Can the bank refuse me access to their superior ? Can they put my default on my credit record while under dispute and without a true copy of the original agreement ? How do i obtain any information they hold on me/my account ? I originally opened up a complaint in 1998 about the way i was treated, I had to deadlock the complaint due to the mental distress it was causing me. The ombudsman awarded me £250 which i refused as the complaint was not complete. Please advise me on what to do

Hi Folks, Need your thoughts. Husband and Wife are both on Incapacity benefit (Scotland) ( Full CT and HB benefits) The Wife passed away 4 weeks ago. Husband has been advised that DWP will pay the bereavement payment £2000 to pay towards funeral but will need to pay it back of his benefits. They are wanting to deduct £31 per weer week/fortnight (not sure which) from his benefits. I have never heard of anyone entitled to it is to pay it back. Any thoughts?

Hi My husband recently died, Although we had recently seperated we had not started the divorce procedings. When i reported his death to the DWP they said I may be entitled to bereavement benefit and have put in a claim for me. I am on ESA in the wrag group and it says it may affect this. I get income based ESA No one seems to be able to explain Can anyone help, if I get this benefit will they just take it off my ESA? Thanks

if getting a pension (from the husbands pension scheme) where their company pension scheme, allowed the widowed wife to have some of the pension monthly money after their death. (company pension, eg BT pension) if that is being paid to the widow, does that mean it can affect the decision to get bereavement benefit (after applying) - ie they can reject it ? or the decision to get Bereavement Benefit have no effect or link to any 'company pension' being paid Also: or if the Bereavement Benefit is got, could the Company pension be altered/stoped? or there is no linkage?

Hi all Hope you dont mind me posting, Ive gleaned a bit of info from this forum which is great but would love some personal advice relating to my circumstances. In April I had a notice from Jacobs and tried daily (3-4 times a day) to call the bailliff in question. to no avail. in the end I called them and they laughed about how this baillif was a liability and i set up a payment plan. Shortly after, my partner was taken into hospital (7 months pregnant) and transferred to manchester Royal some 50 miles away. Due to the circumstances I moved with her staying in a hotel and crippling myself! unfortunately, i failed to keep up with their repayments. On the 6th May my partner gave birth to our daughter and sadly 10 days later our daughter passed away. i have only recently gone back to work after 5-6 weeks off (self employed, no income). Today I had a removal notice come through from Jacobs telling me they will seize my goods in 24 hours. from what i gather, they cannot do this as they need a walking possession etc and considering I have never met the guy it would be unfair to break in after 24 hours. Can they take my recent bereavement into consideration? What on earth can i do. The debt is for council tax and totals roughly £1600. back at work, it will take me approx 5-6 weeks to get this paid off. Will they listen to me!????